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Nov 27, 2018
Our Humans of ArtPlace series takes its cue from the famed Humans of New York project. This month, as our blog tells stories of “the people behind creative placemaking,” we asked the driving forces behind three ingenious ArtPlace-funded projects to give us some personal insights on work, life, art, and place. Donna Neuwirth co-founded the Wisconsin-based Wormfarm Institute in 2000, and remains... Read More
Oct 30, 2018
Peter Haakon Thompson is a Minneapolis-based artist and the Community Development Coordinator at Springboard for the Arts. For many years, he has initiated and participated in art projects that center community engagement—some while wearing his “artist” hat, and some as an arts administrator. We asked Peter to share some examples of successful creative placemaking ventures he’s been involved with,... Read More
Oct 04, 2018
Like Riding a Bicycle is the name of our socially engaged art collective. We have been working together since 2014 to empower communities and individuals in the places they live. We are currently working with the Heights Community Development Corporation (CDC) in Memphis, Tennessee, to create community engagement programing that complements the development of a new neighborhood-led multimodal infrastructure project called... Read More
Aug 16, 2018
Ashley Hanson is a theater artist, social practitioner, storyteller, and lover of rural places. This featured essay is adapted and expanded from a Firestarter Talk given by Ashley Hanson at the National Rural Assembly in Durham, NC in May, 2018. "The drive to my mother’s house is one of my favorites. As I turn off the two-lane... Read More
Aug 14, 2018
Three influential affordable housing and community development intermediaries—NeighborWorks America, Enterprise Community Partners, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)—are serious about incorporating arts and culture into their work. As they grapple with the lasting effects of structural racism, rapid gentrification, and resources that vary widely from community to community, they’re learning what works, sharing their findings, and continuing to experiment.
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May 20, 2018
ArtPlace was set up to further encourage a world in which arts and cultural strategies are used in solving community planning and development challenges. To realize this challenge we believe that a critical mass of organizations and individuals must be aligned and working effectively as a field. That’s why field building is a key component of our... Read More
Nov 17, 2017
At this year’s ArtPlace Summit, we talked often about tapping into the authentic identities of our individual communities as part of our creative placemaking work. But what happens when a community is in transition? How do we honor the history of a place while actively working to encourage its growth and foster positive change? We closed the second... Read More
Nov 08, 2017
Collaborative community practice between artists and community development organizations is a foundational aspect of creative placemaking. But how many of us are actually very good at it? With this question in mind, ArtPlace invited the Center for Performance and Civic Practice to host a breakout session at our 2017 Summit focused on “Effective Partnering: Starting with Values,... Read More
Feb 08, 2017
In the wake of rapid gentrification, an organization in Los Angeles leverages the arts to celebrate a community’s rich heritage and keep social equity as a priority. Grace Chikui, 53, relies on walls, the edges of grassy areas, and the feel of the asphalt under her feet when she needs to go somewhere. In the short documentary... Read More
Feb 01, 2017
Who has been behind the large increase in financial support for and attention to what has been termed “creative placemaking” over the past couple years, and why? “Not every community is lucky enough to be anchored by a hospital or a waterfront. But every community has artists,” says Jamie Bennett, executive director of ArtPlace America. “It’s the... Read More